School hours reduced to five in Ramadan

MORNING ASSEMBLY, PHYSICAL EXERCISE CLASSES SUSPENDED DURING FASTING MONTH

S chool timings have been reduced to a maximum of five hours for Ramadan, Arabic newspapers reported yesterday, quoting the Ministry of Education.

Starting Sunday (May 28), boys’ schools will start at 8am while girls’ schools and pupils in kindergarten will start at 9am. According to the reports, schools have also been asked to suspend physical exercise classes and any other activity that is physically demanding during Ramadan. They must also ensure pupils are not exposed to the heat and sun to avoid the risk of dehydration.

The measures include cancelling the morning assembly, reducing breaks to 10 minutes and limiting classes to a maximum of 40 minutes per class.

The Ramadan timings and measures will apply till the end of the school year — June 22. Ramadan will end around June 25 or 26, depending on the sighting of the new moon.

According to a circular sent by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), school timings in Dubai during Ramadan will be shortened to five hours a day. Schools will start between 8am and 8.30am and end between 1pm and 1.30pm.

Collective responsibility

Mohammad Darwish, chief of regulations and permits commission at KHDA, said: “Ramadan is an extremely important and significant time of the year for Muslims. Schools share a collective responsibility to follow shorter timings during the month and exempt fasting students from any physically demanding activities.”

The Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) has also announced its Ramadan timings for schools. According to its website (www.adec.ac.ae), “school timings for kindergarten students will start at 9am and run till 11.55am, with 40 minutes class durations and a ten-minute break time”.

It added: “Grades 1 to 11 boys schools will start their day at 8.15am and end at 1.10pm, whereas girls schools will operate from 9am to 1.55pm.